Game Quickies 10/12/07

River City Ransom (NES)
Walk right, button mash an army of clones to death, buy crap with the money they drop, repeat for a few hours. Best NES game ever!
Rating: Lame

MDK2: Armageddon (PS2 / T)
MDK2 on the Dreamcast was one of the best games I played in 2006. This version is a desecration. While the base game is still there, needless changes negate the point of many sections, mainly the bomb puzzles in level 6, bosses 1, 4, and 6, and it seems the game is more generous with Gatling Guns when you take on the final boss as Max. Some changes are just annoying, like the pressure sensitivity on Max's jetpack and the lack of shadows makes scaling the cooling tower in level 8 needlessly confusing. Some changes don't hurt the game so much as they make you ask "Why?" likethis. There's four difficulty settings, but Hard is still easier than the Dreamcast and I don't even want to know how babyish Easy and Normal are. There also seems to be some minor sound glitches, mainly voices cutting off too soon. If you're interested but don't own a Dreamcast, then get a Dreamcast. The only reason to bother with this version after going through the Dreamcast is that on the Jinkies! difficulty setting, the second boss which was so easy on the Dreamcast I beat it on my first try and didn't even know what I was doing is a total bitch.
Rating: Limp

Mega Man 5 (NES)
It's also Mega Man.
Rating: Decent

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom (SNES)
It started out on my good side, then halfway through started really pissing me off. It started picking itself up at the Fortress of Doom but by then it was too late. It's not an exaggeration to say that except for the Fortress of Doom, all the dungeons are either caves or towers with different (and often nausiating) color schemes. Most of the monsters are as well drawn as the boredom-inspired doodles you might find in the margins of my class notebooks, and I wouldn't mind the generic battle system if battles weren't so bloody common.
Rating: Eh

LEGO Star Wars (Gamecube / E)
As of writing this, this is the worst game I bothered to finish this year (worst I played would be Sonic Heroes). I've already explained why.
Rating: Garbage

Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando (PS2 / T)
I liked the first Ratchet and Clank, but this was a bit of a disappointment. It was nice they tried to make it more than a level supplement sequel, RPG elements were added such as Ratchet gaining EXP and health boosts as he beats enemies, upgradable body armor, and enemies that get stronger as the game goes on, while keeping the platforming elements of the first game. But this causes some problems. Weapons only upgrade once and then become totally worthless, and the more powerful ones are totally impractical to use. You're also forced to spend money on the armor, because when you buy one suit, two planets later common enemies are knocking off half your life. None of the planets are as interesting as, say, the radioactive planet or the Moon Base in the first game. And the game can be really tedious at times - there's a giant robot boss that drones on for WAY too long, the starfighter missions are confusing and annoying, the giant Clank battles are infuriating (thank God there's only two and one is optional), and don't get me started on that ice planet with the yetis. The final boss is okay, but has a glitch that I still don't know if it's a mistake or a godsend.
Rating: Eh